The present invention relates to implements used for tending ground areas, and more particularly to an implement for simultaneously moving and sifting sandy earth.
Ground areas not covered with grass or other plants are particularly noticeable when littered. They have a tendency to collect and hold debris not only on the surface, but to some depth as well. Vigilant policing of sandy ground areas, such as a beach in front of a hotel, can remove the visible debris. But when subsequent winds, pedestrians, and vehicles shift the top surface, additional debris may be exposed. As a result, sandy areas cannot be cleansed of debris by visual inspection and debris collection.
Sandy ground areas can be more thoroughly cleared of debris by using a screening box and shovel. The screening box is typically a shallow rectangularly shaped support having a screen fitted across the bottom. The screening box is elevated onto a support structure leaving the bottom screen portion free from obstruction, or is manually held by one person who performs the screening function. A second person shovels the sandy earth into the screening box, where the sand passes through while the debris remains trapped in the box by the screen for subsequent disposal.
This technique involves the expenditure of significant energy on behalf of the person shoveling the sand. In order to clean large sandy areas, many cubic yards of debris laden soil have to be elevated to the screening box's vertical level, then sifted and respread; the thorough cleaning of a given area requires hours of work.
With the screening box method, time must be taken to separately dump the debris collected from each few shovel-full of sand. If the screening box is not dumped often, two undesirable effects result. As greater amounts of debris begins to collect in the screening box, the debris itself begins to impede the sifting action of the screen and reduces the rate at which sand passes through the screen of the screening box. Secondly, the increased weight of larger amounts of debris, and the increasing weight of the sand which is backed up due to the slower rate of sand passage through the screen of the screening box, imparts tensive stress upon the screen. Tensive stress can result in tearing of the screen or failure of the points of attachment of the screen to the screening box.
What is needed is a device facilitating an easier method for effectively cleaning sandy soil areas of debris, both visible debris at the surface, and hidden debris within the volume. In order to reduce the expenditure of energy, the device should require the sandy soil to undergo a minimum of displacement during the cleaning process, and especially minimum vertical displacement. The needed device should not allow the debris to collect to the point that the cleaning action is impeded. Further the needed device should facilitate easy transfer of the debris into a container without having the operator stop to perform a different function. These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent to one skilled in this art from the following description of a preferred embodiment.